First
official Atlanta - POS Sister City Committee web page.
The
renewal of the North Atlanta High – Montego Bay High partnership, its
successful formation of sister IBP programs / joint projects, and program
transportability, began to interest the ASCC Committees. Mrs.
Norma Hamlet, Chair of the Atlanta – Port-of-Spain, Trinidad Committee, proposed
that North Atlanta export the International Business Program to her country
that is located off the coast of Venezuela. The process was to
start with a student exchange to being the partnership.
I
had always wanted to visit Trinidad and experience its vibrant culture that is
the most anthropologically studied in the world. The reason for
anthropologists’ interest is the cultural mix of peoples from Africa, Lebanon /
Syria, India, Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia and others that have collectively
produced a free, tolerant and dynamic country. The anthropologists were
curious to know why and how Trinidad was able to successfully blend in to a
politically stable nation with an effective school system and fairly high standard
of living. Huge gas and oil deposits helped.
Best
of all, the able and dear Norma Hamlet, and her remarkable Port-of-Spain
counterpart Gia Gaspard Taylor, a magician at getting things done well, made
for a terrific team and joy to work with. We immediately began planning
for the Port-of-Spain – Atlanta Committee to set a date and prepare to host a
group of North Atlanta IBP students to help install the IBP in Port-of-Spain
high schools. A major goal was to provide students with opportunities
Brief
Summary of Trinidad Business Schools Program:
I
salute the spirit of Gia Gaspard – Taylor, Norma Hamlet, businessman William
Latchman, and former Mayor John Rahael for strengthening the sister cities
bond, and for transporting the IBP to Port-of-Spain. In
recent years, Gia also coordinated the International Education and Resource
Network program in Trinidad. Ed Gragert and his visionary team founded
IEARN when the internet became a learning tool and has been the leader in
globally / electronically connecting and engaging students in innovative
internet joint projects ever since. From 2005 – 2008, Gia and I connected
my Geography students at Etowah High School in Woodstock, Georgia, through a
common web site to collaborate with Port-of-Spain students on discussing
various issues of the day.
February
6 – 15, 1998: North Atlanta IBP visits Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
Bishop
Anstey College in Port-of-Spain served as a primary meeting place each day for
students living with host students and their families.
The
first thing we did upon disembarking in Port-of Spain was to head straight for
Maracas Bay Beach, a beautiful family spot ringed by low, green
mountains. It is a tradition for people bathing at Maracas Bay to
eat a fish sandwich called Bake and Shark. However the tides are very
strong, unpredictable, even treacherous. NAHS student James West, in
Trinidad just two hours, was caught in a riptide and dragged out deeper and
deeper. Fortunately, a vigilant lifeguard caught sight of James
struggling and quickly rescued him.
As
the lifeguard helped James out of the water, I thought about how I almost had
to call James’ mother and tell Mrs. West that her son had drowned after only
two hours after his plane had landed. Given the twenty-five exchanges in
fourteen years that I was involved in, that was the closest I came to a tragic
student incident. God watched over me and my students as virtually
marched across the world.
Gia
Gaspard Taylor and William Latchman moved heaven and earth for our exchange
group – the itinerary / program was superb and facilitated with precision-like
quality. My students met with government leaders, successful business and
professional people, were treated to many fabulous cultural experiences, and treated
like V. I. P’s wherever they went. It was a fantastic learning experience
for my students and I am sure that they still cherish their memories from a
perfect nine days.
NAHS
students enjoying lunch at Veni Mange as guests of U.S. Embassy Chief.
David Rudder, one of Trinidad’s greatest Calypso singers, walked in while we
were eating, shook the students’ hands, and welcomed them to Trinidad.
Tommy
Binner and James West sign the City Hall Guest Book as Mayor Rahael and Paula
Robinson look on.
Mrs.
Gaspard – Taylor and Mrs. Norma Hamlet in a meeting with the Fire Chief Lenox
Alston to discuss Atlanta and Port-of-Spain sharing best fire fighting
practices and technology applications.
Trinidad’s
first Prime Minister, Eric Williams, was a socialist and disdained
Port-of-Spain becoming a tourist city. Trinidad’s well being was to be a
country of professionals and workers doing “honest labor” not waiters, maids,
cooks and clerks – which is honest labor too. Port-of-Spain has developed
into a vibrant and lovely city to live, work, and play in – just like Atlanta –
not a major tourist destination city either. Tobago, in comparison, with
its many beaches, hotels, significant tourist industry, is almost another
country.
One
of our top goals on the Business Agenda was hiring Kambyn Miller to produce
batik shades to cover the Warrior Warehouse’s window panels. I apologize
to Kambyn Miller by previously referring to her (in earlier web pages) as
Kristin Miller.
The
six panels that Kambyn created far exceeded our expectations regarding beauty
and adaptability – the bonus was that they were a gorgeous work of art.
Trinidad
is an oil and natural gas rich country which has helped spawn a sizable middle
class. Trinidad is similar to Jamaica but blessed with more natural and
financial resources. Gia chaperoned the North Atlanta delegation on a
tour of the country’s interior and the Atlantic LNG Company and plant in
southern Trinidad.
The
week we visited – one week before Carnival - may be the best time of the year
to visit Port-of-Spain. The city, buzzing with everybody getting ready
for the annual fabulous week long celebration, still functions. Each
night the pan yards are filled with bands practicing to get ready to compete
for the public’s affection and prizes. The steel bands enthrall huge
throngs of music lovers in happy pockets all over the city. We attended a
pre-Carnival concert, a “battle of steel bands (steelpan)”, calypso acts and a
great time for all.
Our
last and most important aim for our Trinidad business agenda was to organize a
small market of arts & crafts artisans for the NAHS IBP to select / buy
product to take back home to sell in the school store and e-catalog.. The
list of below products that we bought proved to be very popular and sold out
fairly quickly.
The
IBP / ACTCo buying team met with a consortium of artisans on Saturday, Feb. 14,
1998, at St. Mary’s College in a conference room. We were presented with
the wares of nine artists – the products that we selected are recorded below.
`
The
NAHS students returned home from a memorable learning experience and, as
required, constructed a web page that documented their Trinidad objectives and
itinerary.
A
few days later, a fax from Kambyn Miller arrived. She informed me that
the batik window shades were completed and she would Fed Ex them to
Atlanta.
North
Atlanta, Trindadian, and Jamaican students have always gotten along famously
but the First Trans-Caribbean Exchange was special.
Sheldon
Trim (Port-of-Spain) and Amy Patel (Atlanta) posing for picture during lunch at
Planet Hollywood in downtown Atlanta.
Trini
students posing for picture in Atlanta City Hall Atrium.
I
wish to also express a special thanks to the School of the Arts music
instructors who over the years performed on short notice from IBP requests to
entertain visiting exchange groups with concerts and dance recitals. Mr.
Lynn Thompson, former North Atlanta Orchestra Director, was particularly
generous and gracious when asked.
1998
Atlanta – Port-of-Spain Committee Roster:
I
became a member of every sister city committee that I organized a student
exchange with – seven to date.
Super-Exchange
IV: “The Future Belongs to the Innovators”:
The
“Future Belongs to the Innovators” exchange invitation outlined another
excellent itinerary – a veritable “Who’s Who of POS - Trinidad” had been
enlisted to enlighten the students.
There
is an old saying; “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”
Gia Gaspard Taylor chaired United Nations, Sister Cities, Peoples of the
Americas, and business education programs in Trinidad. She anchored the
Port-of-Spain – Atlanta Sister City Committee and adapted the IBP in five secondary
schools. Gia worked with young girls struggling to obtain business
and work skills needed to make a decent life for them selves – she amazed me
with the many hats she so ably juggled. And that included a fabulous
student exchange that she organized for North Atlanta Feb. 6 – 15, 1998 that
introduced us to the leaders and shakers of Port-of-Spain and Trinidad.
Gia brought 8 students to Super-Exchange V. The woman is a saint.
So
it was with a happy heart that I and my North Atlanta students returned to Trinidad.
Michael Willis and his young Montego Bay High ladies were visiting
Port-of-Spain for the first time and were thrilled to experience another
Caribbean country. Blythe Clear and her student group, from the Turks and
Caicos Islands, felt exactly like the Jamaicans. Toomas Saals and
Maia Oblikas arrived first with their Mainor School delegation and were
ecstatic to be escaping their worst winter month to explore the charms of sunny
and beautiful Trinidad.
Gia
lined up a great itinerary as usual, the friendly Port-of-Spain host schools
and families welcomed us in to their homes and the exchange got off to a
wonderful start. The Super-Exchange formula of 70% education and 30%
recreation was working its usual magic.
There
is another old saying; “Murphy’s Law - whatever can go wrong will.”
Suddenly, major sponsors experienced serious problems and had to cancel.
Organizations that strongly supported the exchange developed pressing concerns
that had to be dealt with immediately. Most unfortunately, the itinerary
began collapsing with too much free time for teenagers
happening. On Thursday, Feb. 12, the chaperones requested a
meeting to discuss concerns.
My
heart ached for Gia as she explained about the breakdown of support, and that
she had been working so hard to come up with substitute learning opportunities
that communication had suffered. Sadly too, all new initiatives seemed to
go nowhere. We all gave her a hug, told her we loved her, and that we
would all pull together to finish the exchange in fine fashion. The rest
of the itinerary was excellent, the farewell parties were a lot of fun
and hugs - the program ended on a high note. Maia Oblikas, former
Director of the Mainor School, was known for another old saying; “All’s well
that ends well. “
Cities,
in their search for new markets, employ sister cities programs for economic
development purposes and international branding.
Trinidad’s
location in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
For
more information about Trinidad, please access www.arnoldheller.org/Super-ExchangeV and SEV Part 2.